This is a blog detailing the creation/evolution/ID controversy and assorted palaeontological news. I will post news here with running commentary.

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

"Jeffrey Dahmer Believed in Evolution"

Well, this is certainly getting a lot of airplay. The Texas Freedom Network is now reporting that a former language arts teacher in central Texas named Donna Garner sent out an email decrying the new standards that have been stripped of the "strengths and weaknesses" language. They provide the email, which says in part:

But the debate before the Board is not over micro-evolution, but over the teaching of -evolution. We have never observed one species becoming a different species (macro-evolution). And we have never observed how life began. This is where we need to examine the scientific strengths and weaknesses. And with respect to -evolution there are numerous scientific weaknesses, to name a few: (1) the Cambrian explosion of life; (2) gaps in the fossil record; (3) the intractable origin of life chemistry problems; (4) the origin of information in the DNA molecule; and (5) irreducibly complex features. Honest scientists acknowledge these and other weaknesses—but atheists don’t want these weaknesses highlighted—particularly not to our children. This is the Scopes Monkey Trial in reverse.

If I had a dime for every time I heard someone out of the field who spouts these same so-called "weaknesses"...I find it interesting that there is a dichotomy between "honest scientists" and "atheists." So, if you honestly think that there are no weaknesses, you are an atheist? I find that offensive. Next, we have the section that has the net in such an uproar:

Jeffrey Dahmer, one of America’s most infamous serial killers who cannibalized more than 17 boys before being captured, gave an last interview with Dateline NBC nine months before his death, and he said the following about why he acted as he did: “If a person doesn’t think that there is a God to be accountable to, then what’s the point of trying to modify your behavior to keep it within acceptable ranges? That’s how I thought anyway. I always believed the theory of evolution as truth, that we all just came from the slime. When we died, you know, that was it, there was nothing….” (Dateline NBC, The Final Interview, Nov. 29, 1994).

So? Is Jeffrey Dahmer now representative of those who accept evolution? There are plenty of other philosophical leanings that also teach existentialism. Besides, both Dahmer and Garner clearly have a minimal understanding of evolution anyway. It doesn't teach what Dahmer states that it does. It says nothing about the afterlife or where we came from. His theology is no better than that of Dawkins.

This is the 'kitchen sink' approach. The Hitler meme didn't work—too much evidence has come to light that it doesn't hold up, so now it is time to throw at us someone else who believed in evolution that was a horrible monster. As much as it takes before we understand that evolution = Godlessness. There is little to no serious scientific thought behind this.

“Well, thanks to you [his father] for sending that, uh, Creation Science, uh, material, because I always, I always believed the lie that evolution is truth, the theory of evolution is truth, that we all just came from the slime and when we died, you know, that was it, there was nothing. So the whole theory cheapens life.And I started reading books that show how evolution is just a complete lie, because there’s no, there’s no basis in science to it to hold it, and I’ve since come to believe that, uh, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the True Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, it didn’t just happen, I have accepted Him as my Lord and Savior. And I believe that I, as well as everyone else, will be accountable to Him.”

Dahmer isn't a representative of those who accept evolution. The quote is misleading because it isn't complete. He was trying to explain his previous beliefs contrary to what he believed in the last few months before his execution. Sure, that's no "excuse" for the terrible things he did, and I'm definitely not protecting or defending him, but if you watch the interview, he takes full responsibility for his actions and is "angered" by those who attempt to blame his crimes on his upbringing, belief system, family, etc.